Life and Love
by SparrowEverlark
Summary: Becoming a parent is a magical moment in a persons life but sometimes its not always all a bed of roses... Sometimes you have to encounters a few thorns in your journey to parenthood. My idea on the pregnancy of Peeta and Katniss. Rated M, Just in case.
1. Prologue

**Not sure how far this story is going to go. I just felt like writing something, Maybe a short thing, about the pregnancy of Katniss and Peetas first child.  
This is all basiclly going off knowlage of my own pregnancy with my own daughter. If you feel things are not right or normal and have not gone through pregnancy before, please do not be negative. My pregnancy was not normal and I had a few issues near the end.  
If you like this and want it continued, you need to review for me! ❤  
It will be skipping between Peeta and Katniss' point of views just to get a good view of the pregnancy from both sides.  
Love love love you all!  
-SparrowEverlark!**

* * *

She panted and clung to my hand in a grip that transmitted her struggle. I wipe the sweat streaming down her face and kiss her wet hair, tears in my eyes as I helplessly watched her. A voice came from what seemed like nowhere, urging her to push. I helped her sit forward and whispered excited encouragement to her as she ground her teeth and held her breath and bore down with all her might. A mighty effort gave pause to a few minutes of recovery as she gulped in breath and lolled her head back. The urge was soon upon her again and with one last push she let life surge through and from her a new voice joined her cries. A new person was in the room. She sank wearily back into my arms. A son. A daughter. Life.

"Do you have a name picked out?" Maggy asked as they lay the child onto Katniss' chest.

"Yes" She smiled and Whispered it in greeting to the wizened infant.

"That is your name, darling child" Katniss cooed.

A tiny fist grabbed hold of my finger. "How do you do?" I said, giving the child a soft smile "so, we meet at last!"

* * *

Just a little something to get your whistles wet. My birthing partner when I had my daughter was my mother and alot of the insight I will be getting for Peeta's Point of view will be coming from pretty much the people I live with (Family, No holds bared) and my Fiancé.  
The cover photo of this story is all thanks to my beautiful little girl. It is a real ultrasound and it IS mine. From now, Every chapter I write will be leading back to THIS moment. If you all like my story I may even take it into the first year of parenthood.  
Thank you all!


	2. Reflections and Questions

I can't help but roll my eyes for what I think is the five hundredth time in the last two days as I listen to him go over the list of pros and cons once again. Just like he does EVERY time talk of a child comes up. I had known he wanted children when I agreed to marry him. For a long time I had dreaded the talk of kids happening.

It didn't happen until about a week after our toasting was done. We were sitting, eating dinner one night when out of the blue, Peeta caught me off guard with a mouth full of mash potatoes with a casual "What do you think of the idea of children?" causing me to choke the instant the words left his lips.

I should have seen it coming. Its how things normally go right? Two people fall in love, get married, have children and more or less live happily ever after. It was over three years since the rebellion. There were no hunger games to worry about losing my children to. So why did I not want them? How could I tell him this? _"I don't want children, Peeta, maybe not even ever! Don't ask me why because I don't know why" _wasn't going to happen. He deserved much better then that.

Thankfully, he seemed to read the stress on my face and dropped the subject. It wasn't until a year later that I heard about it again. Again I still had no answer to give him. He would come to ask me the same question, three times each year after that, never pressing on the subject when I had no answer to give him.

It became a sort of tradition in our house. I would come home from a hunt on three specific days and he would have a nice dinner set out on the table, hot and waiting for me, cheese buns baking away in the oven. The first day was the anniversary of our toasting. The next was his birthday and the last was Prims birthday. It took me two years before I caught onto why he chose these days to ask for a child. He was trying to soften me up.

One night about fourteen years later. I was laying awake in bed, victim once again to a heartless nightmare of the horrid things I had been made to do by President Snow and the capitol when the light bulb flickered off in my head. I was scared to have children. Peeta still had his episodes from time to time, although fewer and far between now then during that first year back in District 12 and I still had my moments of violent nightmares. Some nights I would simply jolt awake from the visions flashing behind my heavy, closed eyelids. Other nights I would thrash about, kicking and screaming, only coming back to the real world when the weight of Peetas body would pin my arms to my side, his voice breaking the darkness. How could I bring a small child into a world where its mother was broken and unable to take care of herself some days?

I had voiced my reasoning to Peeta the following day at breakfast. He sat silent for a while before giving a nod. The whole time the look of the up most seriousness on his face, his cobalt eyes never blinking before rebutting my fears "We aren't broken any more Katniss. Sure we have our issues from time to time, I hardly even have an episode a month now and your dreams aren't near as frequent as they use to be. Haymitch is broken, he gave up fighting along time ago, but not us Katniss! We survived the hunger games TWICE and an rebellion. We came out kicking and screaming and won each and every time. There is nothing we can't do together Katniss. You should know that by now." He took a deep breath after that. Settling the raising anger I guess he didn't know was bubbling to the surface slowly. He gave me a smile "Our child gets to grow up in a world where there is no hunger games, no starving to keep the capitol happy. That's because of US Katniss. Because of YOU. We aren't broken and you shouldn't think that way." After that, he dropped the subject.

I didn't hear any more about children at all after that. He had skipped asking me on Prims birthday and I wondered if maybe I had finally put him off of ever wanting a child. A month after Prims birthday and still no request, life went on as it normally would. He would go to work at the bakery, I would go hunting, I would hover around the bakery from time to time, doing my best to attempt to help a customer, we would go home, we would make dinner together and eat, do the dishes, sit in the living room a while, reading a book or reading a letter from a friend, anything to pass the time before heading off to bed. Some nights we would make love, others we would just fall into a sleep, curled in each others arms.

Days turned to weeks, weeks turned to months and still no mention of children. I had started to grow irritated by the time his birthday came around. We were sitting at the table, eating dinner two nights after when the familiar question had broken the air. The two of us sat, silent and in shock as it took us both a moment to realise the question had slipped from my lips "Do you want to have a baby?" The words kept ringing in the air, minutes after they had left my lips "Do you want to have a baby?" and suddenly everything was clear. In the time he had seemingly given up the hope of ever having children, the desire for them had been planted and slowly growing until it finally blossomed and I couldn't stand it any longer.

He sat for a moment longer then I had, letting the question sink in "Do you want to have a baby?" It had seemed like a simple question when it had come from him but now he was on the other end of the question and waiting for an answer had my palms sweating and my heart racing in my chest. What if I had put him off with fourteen previous years of me saying no?

"Are you sure? You never wanted them before. Why now?" He was watching me closely, maybe unsure if I knew what I was doing.

"I guess the idea of having a mini you running around would be interesting. It grew on me and what you said, about us not being broken.. You were right. I don't want to live day to day as if I'm going to fall apart. That's not me. That's not US"

The smile that spread over his lips at that moment, the moment he realised this was real, that I wanted to have a child, HIS child had sunk in will never escape my memories. He leapt from his chair, falling to his knees as he gave me a chaste kiss before leaning down to kiss my stomach. I wasn't pregnant yet and he was already kissing my stomach. Thats when it hit me...

...This was going to be a long pregnancy...

* * *

So I just wanted to try and expand a little on the whole part in the epilogue of Mockingjay about Katniss saying it took fifteen years for Peeta to convince her to have children. It never stated HOW he convinced her. I had read stories where he asked her and she said yes after years of pestering and YES that does work but I wanted to try a different direction. I wanted to have him convince her that it was something she wanted, just as much as he did. I'm not sure how well I portrayed that though.  
I'm not sure if I am happy with this chapter or not. I guess I always have the option of changing it later on.  
Please feel free to tell me what you think. Tell me if you feel something should be improved.  
The following chapters are going to be of Katniss pregnant. Some chapters may be from Peetas point of view. I really do want to try and get both sides of pregnancy. The chapters will be based around different weeks of her pregnancy, skipping some of the "less important" parts. Keep in mind there are normally about anywhere up to 42 weeks of pregnancy, Not a lot happens in the first four or so weeks. We will see what happens next.  
As always, Please review if you like it.  
Love love love you all  
⋰S⋰p⋰a⋰r⋰r⋰o⋰w⋰E⋰v⋰e⋰r⋰l⋰a⋰r⋰k⋰


	3. Pre-Conception

We sat in the white waiting room of the small hospital of District 12, the smell of antiseptic hovering in the air, surrounded by women in all stages of pregnancy. Peeta had insisted on coming with me, even after an hour long fight about the bakery needing him more than I did for a check-up.

I sat a little bored, waiting for my appointment, watching one of the children of another woman, running around the small room, arms out to their sides, flapping about. I couldn't help letting my mind skip to images of Rue, arms raised, head tilted upwards to the sun, ready to take off with the mocking jays. I can't help but give a small sigh, my lips curling up a little at the corners.

After another two women disappearing and reappearing from behind a doorway, it's my turn. Magdalen, the resident doctor for district 12, stood at the doorway, calling my name. As Peeta and I stood, all eyes fall on us, a couple of women, not even bothering to try and hide the fact they were whispering about us.

So what? Peeta and I have been married for fifteen years, why wouldn't we want to have a baby? They had children. The broken, victors of the 74th hunger games, survivors of the 75th games and the war were starting a family. I didn't see what the problem was… Much.

Magdalen smiled to Peeta and me as we joined her at the door before leading us past and into a small exam room and invited us to take a seat. The tall, stocky woman taking a seat on the other side of a small desk before giving us another smile. Magdalen came to 12 from the capitol, surprising a lot of us when she took to the district like a duck to water. She had once said "I never felt like I fit in in the capitol" when asked about her move to 12. She had been a big time physician in the capitol and upon hearing of the returning population of District 12, made the choice to join us all as our doctor along with a midwife named Rebekah and a paediatrician named Elisabeth from her clinic.

Magdalen was a tall woman, standing a foot or two taller than me and was stocky at best. She wasn't a big woman but she did have enough muscle on her to keep her frame from looking lanky. Elisabeth was a young woman, very calm and never very out spoken. She was a small little thing, which I guess was why the children liked her so much. As for Rebekah, she was nothing like either Magdalen or Elisabeth. She was of average height and weight but her bedside manner could use a bit of work. Not many of the mothers who had delivered their babies with her help had much to say about the woman other than her bedside manner was horrid and she needed to work on how she treated people but when it came to her job, she was the best. There had even been a decline on birthing fatalities since she had taken over as midwife.

"What can I do for you Mr Mellark and Miss Everdeen?" She gives us a look, a little like 'I know why you are here but I want to hear it from you' and I can't help but blush like a small child.

"We are here about having a child, Magdalen" Peeta says before I have a chance to open my mouth. He seemed to have no trouble saying it either. Just _we are here about having a baby._

Magdalen chuckled as she sat back in her chair "Magdalen was what I was called when I got into trouble as a child. Call me Maggy." She told us. "I'm sure you know how exactly a baby is born so, what can I do to help?"

"I just wanted to get a check-up, I was told it was good to get check-ups, make sure I'm fit and healthy to get pregnant" I tell her, taking a look at few posters on the walls. Some of bodily diagrams, others of little scenes, a beach from district 4, the orchids of district 11.

She gave a nod as she rose to her feet, gesturing to the exam bed up against the back wall. "Come and lay down for me please, Miss Everdeen" I give a nod and follow her, laying down on the bed, the paper sheet crumpling under my form.

For the next ten minutes she pokes and prods, checks my eyes, my ears, my heart and lungs and anything else there could be to check on a human body. Once done, she allows me to take a seat next to Peeta once more. She asks me a couple questions before turning her attention to Peeta and asking him another set of questions. It's not until the sixth question fired at Peeta that I catch on to it being a check-up of our mental health.

After taking moment to make a little note on her computer (A gift from Bee-Tee from district 3) she looks to the two of us and gives us a smile. "Well. I see no reason for the two of you not to continue." She said "You both know how to continue yes?"

"Yes" we both replied at the same time, which only amused Maggy.

"Okay, the next thing to look at is pre-natal vitamins. They will help you get what you need to keep your body running while getting pregnant AND after getting pregnant as well as give the baby what he or she needs too." I give a small nod as she continues "I take it you have stopped taking any form of birth control?" Again all I can do is nod at her before receiving another smile "Then I think everything is all set. I will get you the pre-natal vitamins and you are free to start trying for your baby."

With that she was up and out of the door before I could say thank you. Peeta looked to me and I could tell in an instant that he was holding back from jumping for joy. His blue hues had a child like glint about them and I knew at any moment he was going to burst. I couldn't help the snort of a laugh that escaped my throat at the look of him sitting there, hands on his knees, gripping at his trousers like a child who needed the bathroom. "Katniss. She said we were okay to go ahead..."

I didn't think anything about it. We were adults now, even if she had said not to, we would've most likely done it anyway. "So? We don't need permission to have a child, Peeta"

He looked at me for a moment before stating "Katniss, She said she didn't see a reason we couldn't. She asked us all those questions and you got a head to toe physical. She thinks we are fine…" That's when it hit me like a truck, speeding its way through the capitol streets. She didn't see us as broken like I did from time to time and it meant so much more to Peeta and his high-jacking issues…

"See Peeta? We still have our demons, just like everyone else in Panem but we aren't broken any more." He seemed to relax then and for the first time in forever I saw the Peeta Mellark that threw me the bread when we were kids. The one who hadn't been in a hunger games arena or seen a war. He was free of his episodes in that moment.

After about another 5 minutes, Maggy returned with a little jar in her hands. She explained to me about what vitamins were in the little, pink pills and how it would help me to take them now while getting pregnant then to continue afterwards. She told me only to take one a day and sent us on our way.

The moment we were out of the clinic, my hand was seized by Peetas larger one, the man dragging me off home.

I guess we weren't wasting any time…

* * *

Thank you all for waiting and reading my story. I'm still not 100% sold on the ideas I have for my story at the moment and so it's taking a bit of time to get my ideas sorted out. On top of that I have been busy making cakes for people which takes a lot of the free time I have when my daughter is napping or out with her grandparents. I promise that your patience will pay off in the long run.  
Keep reading and please, if you have any ideas or thoughts on what could happen next then please let me know!  
Love love love you all!  
SparrowEverlark.


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